This is a timeline of the history of British Airways plc (including the history of predecessor companies which influence its shape today). For the novel by Michael Crichton, see Timeline (novel). ... For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd. ...

1920s

• 1924
  • March 31 - Imperial Airways formed by merger of four British airline companies.

is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Imperial Airways Empire Terminal, Victoria, London. ...

1930s

• 1936
  • January 1 - British Airways Ltd formed by merger of three airlines.
• 1939
  • November 24 - Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd merged under provisions of BOAC Act to form the British Overseas Airways Corporation.

is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article deals with the 1930s airline British Airways Ltd. ... is the 328th day of the year (329th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... BOAC Logo The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. ...

1940s

• 1940
  • April 1 - BOAC commences operations, officially replacing Imperial and British Airways Ltd.
• 1946
  • Civil Aviation Act 1946 proposes demerger of two divisions of BOAC to form three separate corporations:
    • British Overseas Airways Corporation - for Empire, North American and Far East routes
    • British European Airways (BEA) - for European and domestic routes
    • British South American Airways (BSAA) - for South American and Caribbean routes
• 1949
  • July 30 - British South America Airways merged back into BOAC.

is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of BEA see Bea British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament. ... British South American Airways (BSAA) was a British state-run airline of the 1940s. ...

1950s

• 1952
  • May 2 - BOAC becomes the first airline to operate a passenger jet service, London to Johannesburg.
• 1954
  • Two Comet 1 crashes ground the fleet, leading to discovery of acute metal fatigue due to the aircraft's design.
• 1956
  • November 8 - BOAC orders 15 Boeing 707s. As the first Boeing jet airliner this began a relationship which would see British Airways become the largest Boeing customer outside of North America.
• 1958
  • October 4 - BOAC operates first transatlantic jet passenger service, using the Comet 4.

May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the city in South Africa. ... This article is about the de Havilland Comet jet airliner. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Edward Boeing. ... is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the de Havilland Comet jet airliner. ...

1960s

• 1960
  • June 23 - BOAC signs a contract for the Vickers VC-10.
• 1964
  • March 11 - First passenger flight of BEA's Hawker Siddeley Trident.
  • April 29 - First passenger flight of Standard Vickers VC-10.
• 1968
  • November 17 - BAC 1-11 enters commercial service with BEA.

The VC-10 airliner was designed and built by Vickers (part of the British Aircraft Corporation) in the 1960s. ... Trident 1E The Trident, model DH121 or HS121, was a short/medium-range airliner designed by de Havilland in the 1950s, and built by the Hawker-Siddeley Group in the 1960s when de Havilland was merged, along with several other British aviation firms. ... The BAC 1-11, or One-Eleven, was a short-range jet airliner designed by Hunting Aircraft and produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) after Hunting was merged with several other British aviation firms in 1960. ...

1970s

1976, BA begins Concorde flights

• 1971
  • April 14 - BOAC undertakes its first commercial flight with the Boeing 747-100, the fourth airline to fly the 747.
• 1972
  • September 1 - British Airways Board formed, a holding board which controlled BOAC and BEA.
• 1974
  • March 31 - BOAC and BEA dissolved and operations merged to form British Airways.
• 1976
  • January 21 - British Airways and Air France begin commercial flight with Concorde. (BA:London-Bahrain, Air-France:Paris-Rio de Janeiro)
• 1979
  • May - Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister. Within two months she announces her government's intention to return BA to profit and privatise it.

Download high resolution version (1500x1145, 188 KB) Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) passes over the A38 road on the final ever Concorde landing at Filton, Bristol, England. ... Download high resolution version (1500x1145, 188 KB) Concorde 216 (G-BOAF) passes over the A38 road on the final ever Concorde landing at Filton, Bristol, England. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 261 days remaining. ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Air France (formally Société Air France) is an airline based in Paris, France, and a subsidiary of Air France-KLM Group. ... For other uses, see Concorde (disambiguation). ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and to date only woman to hold either post. ...

1980s

• 1980
  • June - Livery changed, "British airways" replaced with the word "British".
• 1981
  • February - Lord King, "Thatcher's favourite businessman", appointed to prepare BA for privatisation.
• 1984
  • April 1 - The assets and liabilites of the statutory corporation British Airways are vested in British Airways plc.
  • December 4 - Livery changed. Designed by Landor Associates, the livery reintroduced the "British Airways" titles to planes.
• 1986
  • August - BA orders 16 Boeing 747-436s, the first 16 of an eventual 57. Subsequent orders for the type were placed on May 18 1988 (1), August 16 1988 (2), July 6 1990 (23), December 19 1991 (2) and September 2 1996 (13).
• 1987
  • February - British Airways privatised, valuing the airline at over £900 million GBP.
  • August 18 - British Airways is offered on the NYSE.
  • December - BA completes its takeover of British Caledonian. This introduced many new aircraft to the BA fleet, for example McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and its first Airbus aircraft, the A320.

John Leonard King, Baron King of Wartnaby (August 29, 1917-July 12, 2005) was a businessman famous for leading British Airways from inefficient, nationalised company to one of the most successful airlines of recent times. ... The Boeing 747, commonly nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing. ... is the 138th day of the year (139th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Livery of British Caledonian on an Airbus A310-200 circa 1984 British Caledonian Boeing 707 at Gatwick Airport June 1975. ... DC10 redirects here. ... The Airbus A320 family of short-to-medium range commercial passenger aircraft are manufactured by Airbus S.A.S.. Family members include the A318, A319, A320, and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet. ...

1990s

1999, BA receives its 57th and last Boeing 747-436

• 1991
  • August - BA orders 15 Boeing 777-200 aircraft. In a break with tradition the aircraft are powered by General Electric GE90s, not Rolls-Royce engines. 16 of the airline's later 777s would be powered by the RR Trent.
  • October - The first of BA's Boeing 747-436s are delivered.
• 1992
  • February - Thames Television broadcasts an investigative feature on Virgin Atlantic's long running allegations of "dirty tricks" by BA. BA's PR Director David Burnside wrote in BA News (the in-house newsletter) that Virgin Atlantic and its Chairman Richard Branson made the allegations simply for publicity. Branson sued British Airways for libel, BA countersued.
• 1993
  • January 1 - British Airways settles the "dirty tricks" libel case, paying £500,000 to Virgin boss Richard Branson and £110,000 to Virgin Atlantic.
• 1996
  • Robert Ayling appointed as Chief Executive.
• 1997
  • June 2 - BA takes delivery of its first 777-200ER, for which it was the launch customer.
  • June 10 - British Airways unveils its new corporate identity, a newly stylised logo and ethnic tailfins.
• 1998
  • May - BA establishes a low-cost subsidiary, Go Fly, using ex-BA Boeing 737s.
  • November 26 - BA orders 59 A319/A320 jets, the first BA order for Airbus aircraft (the company's A320s were part of the former BCal fleet).
• 1999
  • April 29 - BA takes delivery of its last Boeing 747-436, G-BYGG. At 57 BA has the largest fleet of 747-400s.

Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1744 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 1744 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Boeing 747, commonly nicknamed the Jumbo Jet, is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing. ... The Boeing 777 is an American long-range wide-body twin-engine airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ... “GE” redirects here. ... GE90 NASA GE90 airflow simulation GE90-115B fanblade, on display at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. ... Trent is the name of several Places: Trento in Italy, famous for the Roman Catholic Council of Trent Trent, Texas, USA Trent, South Dakota, USA Trent, Dorset, UK Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen, Germany Rivers: River Trent in the UK, or one of several other... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd (usually referred to as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline which is owned by Richard Bransons Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It operates long-haul routes between the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia from... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... David Wilson Boyd Burnside MLA (born 24 August 1951) is a Northern Ireland politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for South Antrim. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd (usually referred to as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline which is owned by Richard Bransons Virgin Group (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%). It operates long-haul routes between the United Kingdom and North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia from... Bob Ayling is a British businessman who has been involved in many high profile companies and organisations. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boeing 777 is an American long-range wide-body twin-engine airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ... is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... In 1997 British Airways adopted a new livery. ... Go Fly Boeing 737 Go Fly was the registered name of a British airline, usually trading as Go, now merged into easyJet. ... The Boeing 737 is an American short to medium range, single aisle, narrow body jet airliner. ... The Airbus A320 family of short-to-medium range commercial passenger aircraft are manufactured by Airbus S.A.S.. Family members include the A318, A319, A320, and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Edward Boeing. ... The Boeing 747-400 is the latest version of the Boeing 747 in service. ...

2000s

• 2000
  • April 25 - Rod Eddington named as next CEO, replacing Robert Ayling who resigned after poor company performance.
  • July 25 - Air France Flight 4590 crashes shortly after takeoff in Gonesse, France. BA continues Concorde flights, causing controversy.
  • August 15 - BA suspends Concorde flights after its airworthiness certificate is revoked.
• 2001
  • June - BA sells its low cost subsidiary Go Fly.
  • November - The UK Government approves the construction of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport, a project BA lobbied for many years.
• 2003
  • May - BA sells its German subsidiary Deutsche BA, now dba.
• 2004
  • September - BA sells its 18.5% stake in Qantas.
• 2005
  • March 8 - Willie Walsh named as successor to CEO Rod Eddington, who retired in September 2005.
• 2006
  • February 1 - Fully owned subsidiary British Airways Citiexpress is renamed to BA Connect.
  • November 3 - Flybe buys BA Connect's Regional Routes
• 2007
  • March 25
    • BA Connect transfers to Flybe
    • BA CityFlyer based at London City Airport launches

v • d • e British Airways related topics
Alliance	Oneworld
Components	British Airways · BA CityFlyer
Franchisees	British Mediterranean Airways · Comair · GB Airways  · Loganair · Sun Air
Destinations	British Airways destinations · British Airways franchise destinations
Heritage	Imperial Airways · British Airways Ltd · British European Airways (BEA) · British South American Airways · British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
Other	British Airways Engineering · British Airways ethnic liveries · Timeline of British Airways · Speedbird